Billionaire's Road Trip to Forever Read online

  “Noah, about that kiss...”

  She swung toward him as they strode across a little bridge that arced over a tiny tributary of the river, the water in it reflecting the city lights. “I know I took you off guard and probably shocked you, and weirded you out and stuff. In hindsight I shouldn’t have done it. I should’ve done what you were doing and just faced them down, but I panicked and—”

  “I wasn’t weirded out, Bree.”

  Her eyes looked huge in the moonlight. “You weren’t?”

  Her voice sounded small and a little forlorn, and it caught at him. “The thing is, Bree, what I really wanted to do was kiss you back.”

  Her eyes grew even bigger and rounder. But the expression in them was neither shocked nor appalled.

  His hand went to either side of her on the railing, and he couldn’t find it in him to regret his honesty. “What I really want to do is kiss you now.”

  Dear Reader,

  Road trip stories have always fascinated me. The image of the wide-open road seems so romantically full of potential. Then there are the unexpected delays and detours that inevitably occur along the way. Best of all, though, are the sparks that fly when two people are trapped by circumstances and forced to spend all of that time alone together in the confines of a car. Add to that the sensation of having stepped outside of the normal boundaries of life and one has all of the ingredients for the trip of a lifetime.

  Bree and Noah’s road trip is often fraught, frequently funny and very emotional. These two care deeply for each other and come to care even more as they start to gain a new appreciation for one another. But the stakes are high, which makes for an uncomfortable, confronting, but also exhilarating experience as they embark on a journey of two thousand and five hundred kilometers together. I hope you cheer for Bree and Noah as much as I did as they fight for the happy-ever-after they never knew they wanted or needed.

  Hugs and happy reading!

  Michelle

  Billionaire’s Road Trip to Forever

  Michelle Douglas

  Michelle Douglas has been writing for Harlequin since 2007 and believes she has the best job in the world. She lives in a leafy suburb of Newcastle, on Australia’s east coast, with her own romantic hero, a house full of dust and books, and an eclectic collection of ’60s and ’70s vinyl. She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted via her website, michelle-douglas.com.

  Books by Michelle Douglas

  Harlequin Romance

  A Baby in His In-Tray

  The Million Pound Marriage Deal

  Miss Prim’s Greek Island Fling

  The Maid, the Millionaire and the Baby

  Redemption of the Maverick Millionaire

  Singapore Fling with the Millionaire

  Secret Billionaire on Her Doorstep

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  To Greg, the best lockdown companion in the world! Thanks for the jigsaws, for always being able to make me laugh and for managing to keep us in essentials. There’s no one I’d rather be in lockdown with.

  Praise for

  Michelle Douglas

  “Michelle Douglas writes the most beautiful stories, with heroes and heroines who are real and so easy to get to know and love.... This is a moving and wonderful story that left me feeling fabulous.... I do highly recommend this one. Ms. Douglas has never disappointed me with her stories.”

  —Goodreads on Redemption of the Maverick Millionaire

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Falling for the Sardinian Baron by Rosanna Battigelli

  CHAPTER ONE

  THEY WERE THROUGH the ‘dearly beloveds’ and on to the ‘if any person can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together’ part of the marriage service, and just for a moment Bree’s heart beat a little harder and faster in the hushed silence of Brisbane’s Anglican cathedral. Well, as hushed as the crowded pews for the society wedding of the year would allow.

  Noah might be about to make a mistake of monolithic proportions in marrying Courtney Fraser, but it was a little late to be standing up and pointing that out.

  Could you imagine everyone’s faces if she did, though?

  She barely managed to suppress a shudder at the thought, but she couldn’t suppress a sigh. Not that she had any real reason to object to the marriage, just gut instinct. And she doubted the Anglican minister officiating would consider that as ‘just cause’.

  Deep breaths, Bree. Paste on a smile.

  It was just...seeing Noah about to make such a huge mistake had everything inside her protesting. She’d known Noah since she was a bratty eight-year-old. He was her twin brothers’ best friend. She no more wanted to see him make such a mistake than she would them.

  She glared at Blake’s and Ryder’s backs now. They were Noah’s groomsmen—they had responsibilities! Why hadn’t they taken Noah aside and talked sense into him...or at least grilled him to make sure this was what he really wanted?

  She blew out a silent breath when nobody stood up to make a Jane Eyre-esque pronouncement to call a halt to the wedding. She pressed her hands together and hauled in a breath. Given the current divorce statistics, this marriage wouldn’t be an irreversible mistake.

  Oh, but what a wealth of pain and upheaval a divorce would cause all concerned. She wanted to weep at the thought of it.

  ‘Stop fidgeting,’ her mother murmured. ‘You’re making me nervous.’

  Enough, she berated herself. It was time to stop being Miss Doom-and-Gloom, time to stop thinking such ugly thoughts. It wasn’t as if she were a relationship expert or anything. Maybe Noah and Courtney would have a gloriously long and happy marriage and bless the day they’d met forever. She hoped so. Noah deserved to be happy.

  Bree lifted her gaze from the happy couple to the stained-glass window and zoned out. In roughly five hours, as soon as she could politely and legitimately absent herself from the afternoon reception, she’d be on the first leg of her road trip—a road trip that was going to utterly change her entire life.

  Her fingers started to ache and she glanced down to find them clenched in her lap. She flexed them, and swallowed. It was normal to find change a bit intimidating, right?

  What about downright terrifying?

  She dragged her attention back to the service in time to see the bride—an utter vision in white—push back her veil. ‘I need to speak to you—’ she pointed to the minister and then the bridal party ‘—in the vestry. Now.’

  Bree blinked. Say what? Courtney had kept her voice low, but it still carried to the second pew where Bree sat.

  The minister hesitated for two beats before silently gesturing for the bride to precede him to the small room off to the right. The rest of the bridal party followed with varying expressions of bewilderment and concern. Bree couldn’t see Noah’s face, but the tight set of his shoulders and uncompromising line of his back made her wince.

  A murmur that all too quickly became a quiet roar went around the church. Bree exchanged glances with her parents, but they each remained silent. Nearly five minutes passed before a stern-faced Ryder stalked out and...

  Dear God. Her brother was making directly for her.

  ‘Bree, you’re needed.’ His eyes burned into hers trying to send her some secret message. ‘Can you...?’

  She rose and followed only because she couldn’t think of an excuse to refuse. Not for the first time, she wished she hadn’t come to the wedding, wished she’d made her excuses. Except this was Noah. She couldn’t not attend Noah’s wedding.

  It felt as if every eye in the church—and there must’ve been over two hundred sets of them—was on her as she made what felt like the mile-long journey to the vestry. She supposed it would be awfully poor form to bolt out through the side door and get an early start on her road trip. Change might be scary, but this? Ooh, she had a feeling this was going to be truly awful.

  Or not. Maybe this was just a minor hiccup.

  The tension in the vestry squeezed her chest tight. Noah’s pallor and the way he clenched his jaw had her own jaw aching in sympathy. As soon as Ryder closed the door behind them, Courtney swung to her. ‘You don’t think I ought to marry Noah, do you?’

  Whoa. Wait! What?

  ‘That’s why you refused to be my bridesmaid.’

  Courtney was going to dump Noah. At the altar? It took what felt like a full minute to find her voice. ‘I politely declined your request to be bridesmaid because nobody wants to be paired in a bridal party with one of their brothers. But more importantly,’ she added when Courtney snorted—it was the oddest thing to hear such an inelegant sound emerge from an archetypal vision of bridal loveliness. ‘More importantly,’ she forced herself to continue, ‘I’m Noah’s friend, not yours.

  ‘I mean, I’m sure we could be friends,’ she added with unholy haste. In another dimension, perhaps. Or in a galaxy far, far away. ‘But I’m of the firm belief that, on the weddin
g day, the bridesmaids should be there for the bride and only the bride, not as some kind of support or sop to the groom.’

  For the entire time she spoke, Bree could feel the force and weight of Noah’s gaze—as if by sheer force of will he could compel her to make things right. She didn’t want to let him down. But she couldn’t make things right until she knew what on earth was wrong.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place, then, instead of blathering on that you weren’t sure you’d have the time or if you were even going to be in town for the wedding?’

  She lifted a reluctant shoulder. ‘I thought it sounded politer than the truth,’ she mumbled. ‘Besides, I had a feeling you only asked me to make Noah happy and, excuse me, but I’m always going to pass on playing the role of the pity bridesmaid.’

  Courtney inclined her head as if acknowledging a hit. ‘You still haven’t answered my original question, though. You don’t think I should marry Noah, do you?’

  It was Bree’s turn to snort, and she made sure it was twice as inelegant as Courtney’s. ‘No way am I weighing in on that. No one can make that decision except you and Noah.’

  What was Courtney trying to do—turn Bree into the bad guy here? She’d pass on that role too, thank you very much.

  ‘Why the hell are you having second thoughts now?’ Noah ground out, his eyes blazing in the pallor of his face.

  Bree winced. His every muscle was clenched so tight he shook. It made him look angry, belligerent, but she knew better. All of that mad tension hid panic...and probably a world of pain.

  The finger he pointed at Courtney shook. ‘I asked you to marry me over a year ago. You said yes over a year ago. You’ve had over a year to change your mind.’

  He dragged a hand down his face and Bree’s heart throbbed. Courtney couldn’t do this to him. She just couldn’t.

  With what looked like a superhuman effort, he lifted his head. ‘Look, wedding jitters are normal but...’

  Courtney folded her arms over her tightly laced bodice. ‘But?’

  ‘But this is crazy. And don’t you think it’s a bit...overdramatic?’

  He spread his hands as he spoke, but something inside Bree froze as she stared into his face. Her stomach tightened, and she backed up until she was out of the circle. She scrutinised his face and then Courtney’s and slowly lowered herself to a chair.

  Courtney’s laugh held a note of hysteria. ‘What if we’re making a mistake? Doesn’t that worry you?’

  Bree’s heart caught. Was she the only one who could see the sudden vulnerability in those china-blue eyes? Or was everyone else blinded by the vision of picture-perfect bridal perfection?

  ‘We can talk about this later,’ Noah hissed. ‘We have over two hundred guests out there who are waiting to see us get married.’ His hands clenched. ‘Not to mention the press. The wedding reception is booked and a veritable feast awaiting, not to mention the plan for the honeymoon. I don’t know what else you want me to do. I’ve agreed to everything you wanted.’

  It was only because she knew him so well that Bree recognised how he bit back the expletive chafing through him. Silently she said it for him, Courtney, he’s agreed to every damn thing you wanted.

  He went on to name all the manifold delights they had waiting to share with their guests at the wedding reception, and the secret European location they’d chosen for their honeymoon and had so been looking forward to. He listed the myriad things they had to look forward to in their shared life when they returned home from their honeymoon. A shared life full of potential, purpose and privilege.

  He spoke of holiday houses in Palm Springs and an apartment in Sydney, named the best grammar schools for the three children they planned to have, mentioned the awards and accolades they’d win in their glittering and magnificent careers. ‘Courtney, sweetheart—’ he spread his hands, his expression bewildered ‘—this is dream-come-true stuff.’

  Bree swallowed the sigh welling through her. He made it sound amazing.

  ‘We’ve talked and talked about this,’ he continued, ‘planned everything down to the smallest detail. I have every intention of doing all I can to make every single one of your dreams come true. Why have second thoughts now?’

  It sounded like the most amazing dream.

  Except for one thing.

  He spread his arms wide. ‘What have I missed? What else do you want?’

  ‘Oh, yes! You’re giving me so much.’ Courtney threw up her arms. ‘And what do you get in return?’

  He stared. ‘I get to marry you. I get the life I just described. What more could I want?’

  Bree leaned forward on her chair, suddenly and achingly hyperaware. Say it, she urged silently. Say it.

  ‘I get to be married to the smartest, most beautiful woman I know. A woman I never in a million years imagined would ever marry me.’

  ‘I’m not some damn trophy you get to hold aloft, Noah!’

  His mouth opened and closed but not a single word emerged.

  Bree waited, her heart thumping. But still he didn’t say it. For the briefest of moments her and Courtney’s gazes collided. Courtney kinked an eyebrow and Bree found herself slumping.

  Noah didn’t love Courtney.

  And Courtney had only just realised that.

  Bree couldn’t blame the other woman for running as fast from Noah as she could. But why the heck couldn’t she have come to this decision last week? Or even yesterday?

  Courtney pressed her fingers to her temples. ‘Noah, let’s postpone the wedding so we can talk...work through a few things.’ She dragged in a breath so shaky it made Bree think she was only holding it together by a thread.

  The expression on Noah’s face told them all what he thought about that idea.

  Courtney’s throat bobbed as she swallowed, her hands tightly clenched at her waist. ‘It’s just a delay. If you really love me...?’

  Two beats of silence passed.

  ‘Or, how’s this for a plan?’ Noah widened his stance. ‘We get married right now.’ He pointed back the way they’d come. ‘We have a church full of guests, the caterers are booked, and everything is in place for your whole damn dream wedding.’

  Courtney’s eyes flashed. ‘But it’s not your whole damn dream wedding.’

  ‘I don’t care about the wedding. I just want to marry you!’

  ‘Fine, marry me in a month, then!’

  A terrifying smile stole across Noah’s lips then and Bree’s heart clenched at the self-loathing she recognised in his eyes, though she wondered if anyone else recognised it as such.

  ‘If you loved me...’ His lips twisted into a bitter smile. ‘Here are the options, Courtney. Marry me now...’

  ‘Or?’

  ‘Don’t marry me at all.’

  Bree closed her eyes. A man in love didn’t give those kinds of ultimatums.

  Courtney’s lips twisted. ‘My dream wedding perhaps, but not my dream groom. I’m sorry, Noah, but I can’t marry you.’

  He’d gone so pale it made Bree’s stomach churn. He could fix this so easily.

  All he had to do was tell Courtney he loved her!

  But the fact that saying the words didn’t even occur to him spoke volumes. She wanted to drop her head to her hands. What a God-awful mess.

  To Noah’s credit, he didn’t beg. He kept his chin high and his eyes hard. ‘You’re certain about this?’

  ‘A hundred per cent.’

  ‘And let me guess—’ his nostrils flared ‘—you’re going to walk out and leave me to clean up the mess?’

  Courtney hesitated, before turning to the minister. ‘Are any of the wedding party required to go out there and explain that the wedding has been cancelled?’

  ‘Absolutely not. In fact, I can do it with far less fuss and uproar than anyone else. And to be frank, I’d rather my church not be turned into a circus.’

  Noah’s lips twisted. ‘The press are going to have a field day with this.’

  ‘Then I’m leaving through the side door now.’ Courtney picked up her skirts. ‘I’m sorry to do this to you, Noah, but it really is for the best.’